Nikki Haley on Crime

Restore funding for Law Enforcement DNA lab

Our budget strengthened the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. We have restored funding to our DNA lab, so that SLED can clear the backlogs. We have increased the number of SLED agents, equipment, and their technology budget.
And we've brought Chief Mark Keel home, where he belongs, so that SLED can return, quickly, to its intended mission: Serving the sheriffs and chiefs across South Carolina.

Source: 2012 S.C. State of the State Address
, Jan 18, 2012

Save millions by reducing recidivism

[Let's focus on] reforming our adult corrections system and pulling us out of that deficit. [The SC prison director has done] a tremendous job running our prisons at the lowest cost per prisoner in the nation.
My challenge will be to lower the number of inmates that come back into the system. The cost savings to the taxpayers of this state would be substantial. The immediate savings would be approximately $6 million in administrative costs alone.
But the real dollars will come on the back end, with the reduction of our recidivism rate.

The state of South Carolina pays more than $16,000 annually to incarcerate a single prisoner. We spend more each year on a prisoner than we do on a student.
Think of the savings we'll realize if we aren't constantly welcoming back behind bars those prisoners who finish out their initial terms. And think of the cultural impact. It's immeasurable.